"Millie, what are you doing here?"
Ceri asked after noticing that Millie was lost in her thoughts again. She's currently looking at the huge water wheel close to their house but Ceri knows that her thoughts was wandering elsewhere.
They have just finished their hunting mission outside the city.
This is the job they received from one of the administrators after they have shown their swordsmanship. After submitting the various parts of the savage beasts, they were able to have a stable income. They weren't earning a lot but this allows them to stay within the city and live a simple life in their thatched house.
Of course, this is just temporary as they heard that the city lord has plans for them. It appears that they are still settling the aftermath of the battle as the Barbarians must be looking for them everywhere.
About 4000 people have disappeared after all. There were also numerous barbarians that were killed. There was no way those barbarians would just ignore everything considering the price they paid for getting those flying airships and traveling in a faraway land.
They have put so much effort into this so it wouldn't be surprising if they used all their resources just to find them…
"Ceri, how long do you think we can stay here?" Millie asked as she was uncertain about their future right now. She's not even sure whether she wanted to return to the Tudor Kingdom or just live a different life now that the Primal Sword Sect was destroyed.
"I don't know. However, I think we will find the answer now."
"Huh?"
Millie looked confused. She then realized that Ceri is looking somewhere else and followed her gaze.
"Vincent!"
Millie jumped up and immediately ran toward him.
She was excited. She wanted to hug Vincent but she still stopped in front of him as she tried to suppress her emotions. Looking back, there were so many times he thought of him.
She actually waited for Vincent to visit them in the Primal Sword Sect only to be disheartened every day… Nevertheless, she didn't forget all the fond memories she had with him and the others.
"You've grown taller..." Millie commented.
"Yes. And you… you've become prettier."
p "Hmph… Aren't you supposed to be blind? Or maybe with blurry vision? How can you see my appearance?"
"Ahh… I can feel it." Vincent sheepishly smiled as he changed the topic.
"How about Kiefer, Vivian, and the others?" He asked.
Millie took a deep breath after hearing this question.
She then gathered her thoughts for a moment before she replied to Vincent.
"I'm sure that Kiefer and Vivian are still somewhere in the kingdom… As for Kian, Gerard, and Tristan, they have decided to join the new government. They were recruited and left the sect before the war even started. They said that they wanted to get revenge and destroy the Lucius Clan from the inside…"
Millie further explained that after training within the sect, her hatred of the clan has already dissipated. Instead of aiming for revenge, she'd rather try to live a normal life just like what her parents wanted. She just wanted to have the strength capable of protecting herself.
She's clearly aware that the Lucius clan has Celestial Beings that are out of her reach. She believes that no matter what level of strength they attain, there was no way they could fight a Celestial Being. Perhaps they could put a draw against an unnumbered Celestial once they reached the level of a Grand Knight but that's it.
In any case, she didn't stop her friends as revenge was what drove them to train harder and reach a higher level compared to their peers.
Millie then continued… "Unfortunately for me, I only have an average talent in swordsmanship so I'm really struggling even when I was still within the sect…" She weakly said.
"That's not true… You're hardworking Millie. Although it indeed takes more time for you to master our Sword Art, you're good at perfecting these techniques once you learned them." Ceri suddenly said on the side.
This was actually the first time she heard about Millie's past. She noticed that Millie was indeed close to the other disciples of the sect she named just now but she didn't think they all came from a small village.
From the looks of it, the Lucius Clan seem to have done something to their village which drove them to join the Primal Sword Sect.
Vincent encouraged her as well and promised to help her in any way.
'It's a good thing that the others are all alive and perhaps doing well.' Vincent thought as he sighed in relief.
He couldn't help but admire his childhood friends. His memories of the villagers were a bit vague to him so he wasn't able to feel the emotions that his friends had.
Of course, it doesn't mean that he had already forgiven the Lucius Clan for ultimately killing his grandfather. He just didn't have the chance all this time since he decided to meet his fiancé first.
Unfortunately, before he could find Corrine Lucius, the archmage who was the culprit of that incident, he has come here to Parasol Continent to cure his blinded vision.
"Do you want to join me, Millie? I have a small estate in another city. I also have transportation we can safely use for travel… Currently, I'm planning to build my territory… If possible, I want you to be a part of it."
"Oh~ Won't you invite me as well?" Ceri immediately said after hearing the invitation. It's not that she hated here but this place already has too many people. It will also be a bit boring once Millie left.
Lastly, she felt that Vincent appears too mysterious and she wanted to learn more about him.
"Of course… How about it, Millie?"
Millie smiled as the answer should be obvious.
"Let's go… Where is this safe transportation of yours?"
Vincent then brought the two to where his Vermillion Hawk was docked. They didn't have to bring many things anyway.
"Whoa~"
Seeing the crimson and bird-like aircraft in front of them, Millie and Ceri couldn't help but be amazed.
"You're rich? Or is this cheap in this country? Our kingdom doesn't even have one of these!"
Ceri exclaimed as she can tell how good this was based on her Primal Sense.
"I just traded an item to get it. It should be quite expensive if I purchase it." Vincent answered as he showed them the inside of the aircraft. He was quite proud of it and was fond of Ceri's reaction.
After a while, he met Lola to bid his farewell as he needed to return to the First Tower…
His duel with Karsten is getting close.